The present invention relates to a connecting element, particularly for connecting carbon monostays to bicycle frames.
Carbon front forks and rear monostays are currently increasingly used, in particular for competitive racing bicycles. This choice is due to the need to have bicycle frames which combine high rigidity with great lightness, and this need is effectively met by carbon-based materials.
When manufacturing frames, for example made of metallic alloys of steel or aluminum, it is necessary to deal with the problem of interconnecting a carbon element, the rear fork, and a metal element, i.e., the frame or a part thereof.
The prior art related to the use of carbon rear forks or monostays provides, as a solution to the described problem, for the use of adhesives betweeen the two parts, which are shaped appropriately so as to be mutually interlocked.
The disadvantage of this system is the fact that the connection, once provided, is permanent and the monostay or rear fork can no longer be removed from the frame.
In this manner, when necessary, for example for the replacement of one of the two components due to breakage or technical choice, it is not possible to separate the monostay and the frame.
The aim of the present invention is to solve the above problems, eliminating the drawbacks of the cited prior art, by providing an element which allows to use a non-permanent connection system thereby allowing the carbon monostay to be detachably connected to the frame. Within this aim, an important object of the present invention is to provide an element which allows to obtain a connection which adequately withstands the stresses applied during sports practice.
Another object is to provide an element which maintains the rigidity and low-weight characteristics of the carbon rear fork or monostay.
Another object is to provide an element which is structurally simple and has low manufacturing costs.
This aim and these and other objects which will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by a connecting element, particularly for connecting rear forks, also known as monostays, made of carbon to bicycle frames, characterized in that it comprises a first insert and a second insert which are mutually detachably associable at a first end by way of a mechanical connection means, said first and second inserts being respectively associated, at a second end, advantageously by way of adhesives, with the stem of said carbon monostay, and being associable with, or rigidly coupled to, a tubular extension of said frame.